Review Fix Exclusive: WONDR Talks Creative Process And More

December 27, 2018 Patrick Hickey Jr. Music 0

Review Fix chats with WONDR, who discusses the creative process behind his new single, “All For You.”

Review Fix: How did your project start?

WONDR: I spent the month of June in LA making music with friends and trying to decide if it was time to move out west from Nashville. On one of the last nights in town, my friend/producer Bardo and I were in the studio vibing when we decided to finish up a track we’d produced and wrote earlier that month. We grabbed a case of beer and some Twizzlers and got to work. We recorded the demo for ‘All for You’ that night. 

Review Fix: How did you get involved in music?

WONDR: My father played guitar growing up. He learned from his mother who played banjo and his uncle who was a mean guitarist. With that being said, I definitely got my love for playing music from my father’s side. I got my first guitar when I was 3 or 4 and was in a few bands growing up. I started writing raps in high school after the passing of a teammate. Although going back, the mixtape I was handing out to friends was pretty terrible, at the time my friends and I were digging it so I kept at it. I went to school for music business and after spending time in Brooklyn, seeing and working with some of the underground artists up there, I knew that being an artist was my calling. 

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

WONDR: It all starts with a great beat. Once I have the beat, whether it be from a friend or something I cooked up, I just play it over and over until I catch the vibe and melody. I’m usually looking for the emotions that it gives me such as a happy, sad, party, or serious feeling. Then I start flowing with the track until I say the first words that I think sound cool. I build from there, and I usually start with the chorus. I typically work in a private space and will send out demos to whoever produced the beat to get feedback. If I produced it, I’ll just keep going over until I have a rough demo, then I’ll do a car test with my brother/manager. 

Review Fix: What inspires you?

WONDR: So many things inspire me, but to narrow it down I would probably say my relationship with girls, friends, and family. I’m an emotional person and I draw a lot through experiences I have and ones I want to have. 

Review Fix: What makes this record special?

WONDR: This record is special for a few reasons. One, it was my first record recorded in Los Angeles and in a studio. Two, it was the vibe and feedback from the record that made me realize I needed to move to LA. Three, it’s all about giving back to the people who mean the most to me, and if it actually fulfills what it’s speaking about that will be crazy special. Review Fix: What’s on your musical bucket list?

WONDR: I have a lot of things on my musical bucket list, but I’ll give you my top 3

  1. Reshape and elevate the music industry with a single track or album
  2. Integrate things I love like NASCAR into the WONDR brand and bring the sport into a new era and to a wider audience.
  3. Invite my father to play along on guitar in front of a sold-out arena. 
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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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